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"Jack of Newbury" or John Winchcombe, also known as John Smallwood (c. 1489 −1557) was a leading English clothier from Newbury in Berkshire. When Tudor cloth-making was booming, and woollen cloth dominated English exports, John Winchcombe was producing for export on an industrial scale. He was a leading clothier in other ways. Cloth-making was heavily regulated, and in the 1530s and 1540s Winchcombe led dozens of clothiers in a national campaign to persuade King
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
to change the law on the making of woollen cloth – a campaign which proved ultimately successful. He was the son of a clothier, but became a clothier in his own right before his father's death in 1520, and combined the two businesses, taking on property which had been leased to his father. He was already wealthy in the 1520s, and his growing prosperity led to a significant rise in his status.


Wealth and Property

Winchcombe became a wealthy landowner, spending over £4,000 on the purchase of property in the 1540s, including the manors of
Thatcham Thatcham is an historic market town and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire, centred 3 miles (5 km) east of Newbury, 14 miles (24 km) west of Reading and 54 miles (87 km) west of London. Geography Thatcham straddles t ...
and
Bucklebury Bucklebury is a village and civil parish in West Berkshire, England, about north-east of Newbury and north of the A4 road. The parish has a population of 2,116, but the village is much smaller. Bucklebury Common, with an area of over , is one ...
in 1540, Farnborough (on the Berkshire Downs) in 1542, and Lockinge and Ginge in 1546. In addition, he held a large portfolio of other property (much of it leased), mainly in and around Newbury. Some of this had previously been held by Sandleford Priory, dissolved in the 15th century.


Berkshire gentry

He was one of the Berkshire gentry while continuing as a clothier, becoming a
Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...
and a
Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
, representing
Great Bedwyn Great Bedwyn is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in east Wiltshire, England. The village is on the River Dun (River Kennet), River Dun about southwest of Hungerford, southeast of Swindon and southeast of Marlborough, Wilt ...
in 1545 and
Cricklade Cricklade is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in north Wiltshire, England, midway between Swindon and Cirencester. It is the first downstream town on the Thames. The parish population at the 2011 census was 4,227. History Cricklade ...
in 1547. He may possibly also have served in earlier Parliaments; records for these are incomplete.Davids, R.L.
WINCHCOMBE, alias SMALLWOOD, John (1488/89-1557), of Newbury, Berks.
, ''History of Parliament 1509-1558'', ed. S.T. Bindoff (1982)
As one of the county gentry, John Winchcombe was asked to provide Newbury men to fight in
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
's armies, beginning when he was listed as one of those to be approached "…for aid against the rebels in the north" (i.e. the
Pilgrimage of Grace The Pilgrimage of Grace was a popular revolt beginning in Yorkshire in October 1536, before spreading to other parts of Northern England including Cumberland, Northumberland, and north Lancashire, under the leadership of Robert Aske. The "most ...
) in 1536. He was listed to supply men for the army in Flanders in 1543, with 10-foot soldiers specified; and for the Boulogne campaign in 1544. For the latter, contemporary documents show him at the head of 150 named Newbury men, all furnished with new coats. His will of 1557 includes references to 20 sets of armour and two demi-lances. He was among those present for the reception of Henry VIII's fourth wife
Anne of Cleves Anne of Cleves (german: Anna von Kleve; 1515 – 16 July 1557) was Queen of England from 6 January to 12 July 1540 as the fourth wife of King Henry VIII. Not much is known about Anne before 1527, when she became betrothed to Francis, Duke of ...
, and his personal contacts included
Sir Thomas Gresham Sir Thomas Gresham the Elder (; c. 151921 November 1579), was an English merchant and financier who acted on behalf of King Edward VI (1547–1553) and Edward's half-sisters, queens Mary I (1553–1558) and Elizabeth I (1558–1603). In 1565 G ...
and the Protector Somerset.Rev. Canon J. E. Jackson "Wulfhall and the Seymours" in ''Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine'' vol. 15 (1875) p. 172. He was granted a coat of arms, and had his portrait painted in 1550.


Cloth Production

The many different English cloths produced in the Tudor period were dominated by broadcloths and kersies, and current evidence shows Winchcombe producing kersey cloths on an industrial scale: over 6,000 cloths each year in the 1540s. Each kersey was about a yard (0.9m.) wide, and 17–18 yards long. The scale of his production is also indicated by his purchase of dyes:
woad ''Isatis tinctoria'', also called woad (), dyer's woad, or glastum, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae (the mustard family) with a documented history of use as a blue dye and medicinal plant. Its genus name, Isatis, derives from ...
was his most important dye, frequently delivered by the cartload. One order survives for 541 cwt., or over 27 tons of woad. Many workers were involved in the various stages of production, which included spinning and weaving.
Fulling Fulling, also known as felting, tucking or walking ( Scots: ''waukin'', hence often spelled waulking in Scottish English), is a step in woollen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of woven or knitted cloth (particularly wool) to elimin ...
took place in local mills and the finished kersies were exported via London to
Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,
, where they were recognised in the 1530s and 1540s as the best of their kind. The ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' says that Winchcombe's cloths "came to enjoy an unquestioned superiority, not only in Antwerp, where they were in great demand, but also in markets in Italy, the Levant, Germany, Hungary, and elsewhere, where they had the greatest renown…" The value attached to his cloth is illustrated by evidence of an order from
Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false charge ...
for 1,000 cloths, and that English merchants overseas would sometimes only sell Winchcombe cloths to those who would purchase inferior cloths at the same time. Although Winchcombe has in the past been credited with founding England's first factory, no documentary evidence of a weaving workshop has yet been traced. However, the quantity of cloths produced suggests a workshop of perhaps 30–50 looms.


Jack of Newbury's House

His home was off the east side of Northbrook Street in Newbury, with a street frontage of 29 m. (96 feet). It filled the area between Jack Street and Marsh Lane (now mostly occupied by Marks & Spencer, and previously by the Jack Hotel), running back towards the Marsh (now Victoria Park). It was here he welcomed the future Protector Somerset. The premises consisted of timber-framed buildings ranged around courtyards, including a panelled hall and parlour, buttery, kitchen, cheesehouse, bakehouse, bolting house and brewhouse, as well as numerous "chambers" or bedrooms.BRO DA1/8 Register copy of will of John Winchcombe ff. 296v-302v; TNA PROB 11/40 (26 Noodes) Register copy of will of John Winchcombe ff. 207-210v. A small part of this extensive home survives on the corner of Marsh Lane, complete with external carvings and mouldings. Carved panels from the interior are now at
Sudeley Castle Sudeley Castle is a Grade I listed castle in the parish of Sudeley, in the Cotswolds, near to the medieval market town of Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, England. The castle has 10 notable gardens covering some 15 acres within a 1,200-acre estate ...
in Gloucestershire. That this was Winchcombe's home is shown in a contemporary survey, and the association was marked in 2016 by the addition of a local blue plaque. Some parts of the cloth-making process were also carried out here. His acquisition of
Bucklebury Bucklebury is a village and civil parish in West Berkshire, England, about north-east of Newbury and north of the A4 road. The parish has a population of 2,116, but the village is much smaller. Bucklebury Common, with an area of over , is one ...
led to the building of a grand Tudor house there, which became home to his eldest son.


Death in 1557

Winchcombe's last will was written on 2 December 1557. He died soon after, and he was buried in St. Nicolas 'sic''Church in Newbury on 8 December. This was the church which was rebuilt in the 1520s and 1530s, and his merchant's mark (a capital 'I’ with a lower-case sigma across the centre) appears regularly among the roof bosses in the nave. In this church, he and his son took part in hearings which condemned three Protestants to be burnt to death during Queen Mary's reign. His will was proved on 23 May 1558. In spite of his importance, no memorial to him has survived in the church, although there is a brass to his father. He had been married at least three times, and he was survived by his children John, Thomas, Henry and Anne. His eldest son, the third John Winchcombe, also served as a Member of Parliament in the 1550s and 1570s.


''The Pleasant History''

''The Pleasant Historie of Iohn Winchcombe, in his younger yeares called Iack of Newberie, the famous and worthy Clothier of England'', a fictionalised story of Winchcombe’s life written by the silk-weaver and balladist
Thomas Deloney Thomas Deloney (born ; died in or shortly before 1600) was an English silk-weaver, novelist, and ballad writer. Biography Thomas Deloney was born sometime in the middle decades of the 16th century; the precise date is not recorded. Although ofte ...
, was first published in 1597. Parts of this work are loosely based on Winchcombe's life, but the narrative is expanded by imagination and plagiarism, and it is normally categorised as fiction rather than history. It was Deloney who introduced the "Jack of Newbury" name in print, and the book rapidly went through many editions. Winchcombe became a national celebrity along the lines of Dick Whittington or Robin Hood. The "Jack O'Newbury" form is a later corruption of the name. Deloney described Winchcombe's premises as containing 200 looms, and also related a visit by Henry VIII and his Queen Katherine which is not supported by direct evidence, although Henry VIII passed through Newbury on several occasions. It was Deloney who transposed the Boulogne campaign for that of
Flodden The Battle of Flodden, Flodden Field, or occasionally Branxton, (Brainston Moor) was a battle fought on 9 September 1513 during the War of the League of Cambrai between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, resulting in an English ...
: both are occasions when England was simultaneously at war with Scotland and France. Deloney's liberties with history have led to Winchcombe being frequently confused with his father of the same name (also known as John Smallwood), who died in 1520 and was also a Newbury clothier. The identification of "Jack" with the father was popularised by influential Newbury historian
Walter Money The Reverend Walter Baptist Money (27 July 1848 – 1 March 1924) was an English clergyman and cricketer who played first-class cricket for Cambridge University, Kent, Surrey, the Gentlemen and several other amateur sides between 1867 and 187 ...
in 1887, and widely followed afterwards. The ''History of Parliament'' (1982) associates the name with the father, but the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (2013) notes that it "has been plausibly argued" that Deloney's work referred to the son.
Thomas Fuller Thomas Fuller (baptised 19 June 1608 – 16 August 1661) was an English churchman and historian. He is now remembered for his writings, particularly his ''Worthies of England'', published in 1662, after his death. He was a prolific author, and ...
described Jack of Newbury in the 17th century as "…the most considerable Clothier (without fancy or fiction) England ever beheld."Thomas Fuller ''The History of the Worthies of England'', 1662.


External links


Royal Berkshire History: John Winchcombe Senior alias Smallwood


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:ONewbury, Jack 1480s births 1557 deaths 16th-century English businesspeople People from Newbury, Berkshire People from Winchcombe People from Bucklebury Cloth merchants English MPs 1545–1547 English MPs 1547–1552